Subject: 98-FAMILY2--UncertainBeginnings


Family 2: Uncertain Beginnings
A story by "Micki" Lynn McCormick

While this story should be able to stand on it's own more or less, it is
intended as the second story in my FAMILY trilogy, and sequals my first
one - Unblessed Events.  As such, if you have not read the first one and
wish to, you can read it on this archive, or email a request to me at:
mickilyn@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca.

Again, much thanks to Janis for putting up with my bad punctuation!
Hugs to you Janis!

we all know the routine...  they are not my characters much as I may wish
otherwise...  I'll return them to tptb in better condition than I found
them in - eventually.

Permission granted if so inclined for Mel or Cynthia to archive.  Anyone
else too, but please let me know :>
(98/07/19 Addendum: any DP or T+Vpacker may archive also.)

WARNING:  Although not sufficient to require being posted as adult,
this story does contain some course language and mature subject
matter.  personally, I'd give it a PG rating...
=========================================================================

        Vachon and Tracy were laughing as they entered the apartment.
Before they even had their coats off, Tracy's cat was at their feet,
meowing plaintively and rubbing agianst both of their legs.

        Tracy smiled at Vachon as she bent and picked up the big cat to
give him a cuddle.  "Hey...  How's my my baby Splash doing, hummm?"  She
scritched behind his ears and under his belly, causing the big fluffy
bundle to purr loudly.  "I know... you missed us...  Well, don't worry.
Mom missed you too."

        As Tracy handed the big fluffy persian to her husband, Vachon
asked "So, did you talk to Natalie tonight?"  He sighed as he watched her
undo the zipper on her floor length turquoise sheath dress.  The split in
it over her left leg went right up over her knee all the way up nearly to
her hip, emphasizing her already wonderfully long legs.  "I always hate
to see that come off...  It looks so good on you..."  Vachon sat the cat
on the floor then pulled his now naked wife into his arms, kissing her.

        "You only hate to see it coming off if you aren't getting the
pleasure of removing it, hon."  Tracy kissed Vachon's nose, then pulled
away.  "No, I didn't talk to Nat about that tonight.  That was our
anniversary party, remember?  Besides, I figured it would be better to
wait until we're positive."  Tracy took Vachon's hand and walked towards
their bathroom.  Opening the medicine cabinet, she pulled out a package
that contained a home pregnancy test.  It was the kind that Natalie had
recommended to her.  "Listen, Love. It'll take about 10 minutes.  Why
don't you go relax, and I promise to tell you the instant I know."  When
Vachon nodded, she squeezed his hand, then shooed him out of the bathroom
and closed the door.

----

        Vachon had just finished changing into his old torn jeans, which
was the extent of his wardrobe most of the time they were just relaxing at
home.  He heard a squeal from the bathroom, and an instant later Tracy
was in his arms, hugging him as tightly as she could.

        "Congratulations... DADDY!...  Isn't this the best anniversary
present?"

        "It will be if it goes better than it did last time."  Vachon
kissed his wife of 3 years, then pulled her free.  "Please, go and call
Natalie, okay?"

        "Okay."  As he watched her pick up the telephone and start
dialing, she added "But it will go better this time.  You'll see.   This
time we'll know what to watch for."  Tracy was beaming as she waited for
Natalie or Nick to answer.

----

        Later, as Tracy was nearly asleep and she and Vachon were lying in
bed cuddling, Vachon pulled her close and whispered against her hair.
"I'm really happy we did things the right way around this time, Trace.
You don't know how much that means to me."  He kissed her softly, then
idly stroked her hair as he remembered...

@>--->--->---

        It had been several months since Tracy had lost her baby.  Her
little fluffy persian kitten wasn't such a kitten any more...  in fact,
they had just picked him up from the vets from having just been neutered.
Vachon had noted that it couldn't be as painless for the animals as the
vet had told them, since Splash -was- walking slowly and carefully with
his legs further apart than normal.

        When Tracy had gotten home from work, they had sat on the sofa
chatting, while he had fiddled idly with his guitar.  The topic came
around to the pain the cat must be in, and how much he had become their
child.

        Then Tracy had spoken softly.  "You know, we had a lost child at
the precinct tonight...  I was keeping the little guy from being too
upset while other officers were looking for his folks.  I know now that
when I am ready to be a mom, I do definitely want a family."

        Vachon stopped playing his guitar and sat it down.   A wistful
look crossed his face.  "And you still want me..."  It was a question he
felt he had to ask.

        "Of course.  You said before..." she trailed off, a worried
expression on her face.

        "I know what I said before, Trace.  I just had to be sure -you-
were talking -us-."  He stared at the tall blonde woman who had become so
important to him.  He took her hand and began gently stroking the back of
it, idly, while he seemed to be in thought.  "You're sure you want to try
for kids again?  With me?  I want -you- to be certain."

        "I am.  You know how much you mean to me.  And I know what I want
now."  Tracy pulled him close and snuggled against him.

        After a moment like that, Vachon pulled back.  "Trace...look at
me?"  When she had looked up into his eyes, she had seen he was struggling
to keep tears from welling up in his eyes.  "Look...  I know I haven't
exactly lived by the rules for the last few centuries...  but despite
whatever else I've been, I was born and raised Catholic.  It had never
been a concern for me before because vampires don't get pregnant.  But
now...  now that we know that -we- can have a child the normal way, and
that it's something you want...  Well, I'd feel a lot more comfortable
with the idea if we get married."  Vachon looked away, worried that he
was upsetting Tracy.

        "Vachon...  why...  I mean, that might have been important in the
time that you were born...  but now?  I mean, today there as many kids
born to single moms or parents who are not married as to ones who are.
Maybe more even.  Marriages don't usually last anyway.  Most of the
stablest people I know are not married.  I just don't see the point in
it."  Tracy saw how sad he looked and added, "It's not like I don't love
you that much.  I do.  But it just seems like a waste to me."

        "We come from different backgrounds...  different times....  I
understand what you are saying about today's society and it not being that
important now.  But it isn't society I'm wanting to placate when I say
that.  It's myself.  It's part of who I am.  If you want to have a family,
with me, then I need to be a responsible person again.  It's something I
haven't worried about for a very long time...  But part of who I am is
this man before you who believes that -for me-, if the goal, or one of
them, is to procreate, then I want to do it the right way.  It's something
I haven't worried about in ages.  So it sounds odd even to me, for me to
say it.  But unless you specifically have something AGAINST us getting
married, then if we want to have a family, I want you to be my wife."
Vachon smiled and took Tracy's hand in his.  "Tracy Vetter, will you do
me the honour of marrying me?"  He could feel his hands shaking from his
nervousness.

        "It's really that important to you?"

        "It is."

        "Then yes, Vachon.  I will."  He knew that Tracy could feel his
tears running down her cheek, since she had pulled him close.  He was
sobbing now, weeping with joy, and Tracy didn't seem to mind.  She was
holding him close, caressing him, stroking his hair.  Then she whispered
"I'm surprised that marriage would be so important to you.  But since it
is, I'll be happy to be Tracy Vachon..."

        After a few minutes, Vachon pulled away.  He kissed her cheek,
got up and went to the fridge and pulled one of his bottles from it, and
returned to the sofa beside Trace...  his fiancee...

        "Really... you'd consider taking my last name?"

        "Yeah...  Look, I figure if it's this important to you, and we're
actually going to get married, well, I might as well go all the way with
it.  I know you wouldn't ask, but if the marriage thing is that important
to you, I figure that having your wife take your last name is probably
equally so...  and the way I look at it, I am who I am, and the name
doesn't change that.  So it doesn't make a big deal to me one way or the
other...  but if it does to you, what the hell...  I love you, Vachon."

        They had gone off to bed after Vachon finished drinking his bottle
down, and it had been quite some time later before they actually went to
sleep for the day.

----

        Vachon's thoughts flashed forward a few months, to a week before
their wedding.  He and Tracy were confirming the final plans for the
event.  Tracy had gone out to dinner with her family, and Vachon had gone
to the Raven.  While there, he had met up with Nick, and he seemed to be
in not the best of moods.  But then, he also seemed to have just come from
some sort of chat with LaCroix, so he was bound to be in a bad mood.

        "Hey, Vachon!"  Nick walked over to where he was seated and sat,
without even asking if that was okay.  "I want a word with you."

        Vachon sighed.  He'd known this was coming.  He just hadn't known
when.  Vachon had fully expected him to have brought this up before.
"Sure."  Vachon gestured toward the seat that Nick had already landed in
and added, "Have a seat."

        Nick just scoweled.  "Look, I don't mean to pry into you private
life, Vachon, but this isn't fair to Tracy."

        "If you don't mean to, then don't.  This is her business and mine.
I asked.  She said yes.  I don't see what's not fair in that, and even if
you're right, she's an adult.  She doesn't need her dad or you making her
decisions for her."

        Nick's eyes glinted with anger.  "I -know- she's an adult.  But it
isn't fair of you to ask her.  You know how she feels.  Of course she'd
say yes."

        Vachon had thought to himself <Oh, Knight, if only you knew how
I had to persuade her.>  He almost said that, but the mood Nick seemed to
be in, he thought that might just be worse, so said nothing as he listened
to Nick's tirade...

        "It isn't fair to Tracy to put her in that spot.  The most time
you can give her is 10, maybe 15 years of your life, before you have to
move on.  And that just isn't fair to her.  You know that she doesn't want
to become a vampire, and that would be the only way that you two could
have any more time than that together."

        Vachon was puzzled by Nick's statement.  "Why would we only have
such a short amount of time?  She's young.  We should have her whole
lifetime together."

        "Her whole lifetime?  Vachon, we're vampires in case you hadn't
noticed.  That means that we have only a finite amount of time in any one
place before people begin to notice that we don't age, and therefore, we
have to move on before we draw suspicions onto ourselves and the
community."  Nick looked to Vachon like he might have a headache, which
Vachon decided was probably from LaCroix.  It was also probably why Nick
was being so bitchy.  "I have had to move about every 10 to 15 years.
I've pushed it close to 20 a couple of times, but people really start to
notice by then.  Even at 10 they start getting suspicious.  How can you
inflict this on Tracy if you love her?"

        Now Vachon looked stunned.  "That often...  even when you're happy
where you are?"

        "Of course.  I can't draw attention to the community.  You know
that."

        "Why would you need to draw attention?  I've greyed my hair, grown
a mustache and beard to hide a my 'youthful' face, and greyed those too. I
dressed like the way the older gentlemen did and made certain to be seen
with the political views most commonly held by my 'peers'.  I also
listened, at least in public, to the types of music that were the
preference among the age group I was pretending to be.  I did that for a
lark, mind you.  I wanted to go someplace where no one from the community
would think to look for me.  So I spent 6 months being seen coming and
going from the fitness center at the place I was living.  I spent one
winter living in a retirement complex down in Nevada...  And I pulled it
off.  The people there thought I was a young and fit 60 year old.  But
they didn't think I shouldn't be there.  And I never had to -make- them
think that either, in case you were wondering..."  Vachon took a drink
from his glass, then continued, "Like I said, there's no reason why, if
one of us has a mortal in our life that we want to stay with but who
doesn't want to join us, there is no reason except vanity why we can't
stay with them for at least the majority of their lifetime."  Too late,
Vachon realized how that would sound to Nick.

        He watched in shock as Nick angrily crushed the glass he was
holding as easily as if it were a paper cup.  Then he stood, fire in his
eyes.  "You're still not being fair to her.  If you won't abandon this,
then at least you can damn well make sure you don't hurt her.  If you
ever do, remember, you'll be accountable to -ME-."  Nick stood up and
stormed out in a worse mood than when he'd sat down.

        The next night held the rehersal, and although Nick seemed
slightly distant, he was otherwise back to his usual self.

        A few nights later, on what was supposed to be Tracy's first night
of 2 weeks off for both the wedding and a short honeymoon, she received a
phone call from Captain Reese. "Sorry, Tracy, but we need to get you to
come in tonight.  Almost half of the precinct is out with the flu, and we
desperately need to get a few more people in."

        Tracy frowned as she hung up the receiver.  She hadn't had plans
for tonight or anything.  She knew that Natalie had tried to see if she
could arrange a stagette for this evening, but she hadn't been able to get
the night off from work.  <Well, if I see Natalie tonight, maybe we can go
out for coffee after work and call that my party, I guess.> Tracy thought
absently to herself.  She walked into the bathroom and told Vachon that
she had gotten called into work.

        About half an hour after Tracy left, Vachon got word from Urs.
There was some kind of ruckus going on at the Raven, and she was afraid
that it was going to come to blows and wanted him there to help settle
things down.  He'd thought <That's really odd.  That's what the bouncers
get paid for, but if Urs is scared, I'll go check things out and make sure
it's okay.>  So he'd left, wondering what was going on and why LaCroix
hadn't ensured his bouncers were doing their job...

        Tracy had told him later that after being at her desk for about 45
mniutes, she had gotten a phone call that someone had some info that might
be relevant to the current case, and so had reluctantly agreed to meet
this person at the Raven.  When she had gone to tell Reese, she was told
that the Captain himself had ended up sick, and another Captain from
another precinct had come in to finish his shift.  As she turned to leave,
the other captain asked, "Wait a minute.  Are you Tracy Vetter?"

        "Yeah.  Why?" She had asked.

        A smile played across his face.  "Oh, doesn't matter.  I just
heard that Commishener Vetter's girl was getting married soon.  If you're
the same person, I was just going to offer you congratulations."

        "I am...  and I am."  Tracy picked up the paper with the name of
the person she was supposed to meet.  "Thanks."

        So it was that both Vachon and Tracy were lured to the Raven on
pretenses, in order to have a surprise party for them.  And all the
officers from the precinct who were supposedly off sick...  they were at
the Raven, as was Captain Reese.  Vachon had been surprised when he
arrived, but he arrived before Tracy did.  So when they heard from the
replacement captain that she'd left and was on her way, the fellow she was
supposed to meet was sure to be where she would find him.  When she
arrived, they met, and he said that he was nervous talking to her in such
a public place, and led her down a hall she'd never noticed before to
where they could talk.  When he opened the door, she reached for the
lights, and everyone jumped out to surprise her...   They succeeded.

        Because Tracy and Vachon were already living together, it was
decided by Natalie, Urs, Nick and Screed to have a joint party rather than
the traditional, separate stag and stagette parties...  It really was a
wonderful plan, although Captain Reese seemed a little worried by some of
the other clientelle of the Raven...  Although he said nothing, it was
obvious that he wasn't certain that his officers should be spending time
hanging out in a place like the Raven.  Tracy was glad that he had more
respect for her than her father in that regard.  Her father had apparently
refused to come, telling Natalie that it was unseemly for him to be seen
in a place like that...

        The next evening was the big event, as Screed insisted on calling
it.  Tracy wore a white wedding gown that had irridescent beading
attached.  Her veil was held in place by being attached to a turquoise
tiara, and her bouquet held both white and turquoise flowers.  Vachon
had worn a black tuxedo complete with a cumberbund and accessories in
turquoise, which matched beautifully with Tracy's complimenting colour.
Natalie and Urs were the maid of honour and the bridesmaid, while Nick and
Screed were the groomsman and best man.  After the ceremony took place in
the rented hall, the celebration moved to the Raven which was closed to
the public on this evening...  In order to help hide the fact that many of
the guests were not grazing the munchies, there were -many- small tables
placed around the area with items being constantly changed and moved. The
setup was such that a vampire could be seen at times holding a saucer of
snacks, and as soon as it was set down, one of the waiters would remove
the saucer, so no one really had the oportunity to notice who was or
wasn't eating.  And LaCroix had seen to it that the bartender for the
evening was one who could sense -all- other vampires, so that there would
be no chance of someone who shouldn't have the bloodwine getting it.
LaCroix had also demanded that all members of the community attending the
wedding attend a little 'meeting' in which he made it more than clear that
they were NOT to leave a partial glass around anywhere, anytime during the
reception, in order to ensure no mortals would accidentally get a glass of
the bloodwine that way.

        After the wedding, at the party, Captain Reese asked Vachon in
front of the commissioner how he and Tracy had met.  Before Vachon had a
chance to reply, since he had a glass of 'wine' to his lips, Tracy's
father pointedly smiled and said, "As I understand it, Javier here is a
relative of some sort to Tracy's partner.  I believe I was told you are
a cousin, is that right?"  Vachon knew that Richard Vetter was dreading
hearing that Vachon had been his daughter's snitch again, so if it were
not for the fact that this was Tracy's direct boss, he would probably have
corrected him, just to watch the man shudder.  As it was, he knew this was
Tracy that was being affected by this discussion, so he smiled and nodded
rather amiably.

        The rest of the reception party went well and ran smoothly.  The
only unordinary event being one that got a big laugh from nearly everyone
present.  Vachon had talked to the other guys, except Nick, and they had
agreed to the plan.  When Tracy threw the bouquet, there was a frantic
scramble for it, but Vachon was right in that Natalie was the eventual
victor.  And when Vachon threw the garter, it got quite a laugh from
everyone present, except of course LaCroix, as the rest of the men all
either stepped back, or made a half-hearted effort to catch it, so that
Nick did.

---<---<---<@

----

        It was a few nights since Nick and Natalie had been to Tracy and
Vachon's anniversary dinner, and as seemed to be the case more often than
not these days, Nick and Natalie were arguing.

        "Nick!  That -ISN'T- what I said!  I never said anything about
giving up on the search!  What I -DID- say was that even though I will
continue looking, I don't think it'll do any good, even if I found it
tomorrow, until you learn to accept who you are.  The good and the bad,
the man and the beast.  You need to accept yourself before..."  She was
cut off by Nick's angry interjection before she could finish.

        "Save it Natalie!  I don't need the crap!  You know that's what it
is and so do I.  This is just your way of punishing me for bringing you
across, and we both know it!

        "Niiick! That's not true, Nick, and you know it!  If I were to lie
to you, you'd know it!  I just meant...  Oh forget it!  Once you've
decided what I meant, you won't listen to what I really did mean!" Natalie
stormed out of the living area of the loft and up to the bathroom, where
she slamed the door, hard.  Once inside away from sight she began to cry
and allowed herself to remember...

@>--->--->---

        Natalie had moved in with Nick that night when she had brought
Sidney to the loft.  At first things had been good, although stressful,
since Natalie had needed to begin encouraging Nick to drink more so that
they could be together occasionally without him taking too much from her.
But while that was good, it also increased both of their frustration,
since they couldn't be together intimately as often as either of them
would like.

        Unknown to Nick, Natalie decided after a couple of months living
together to go to a fertility specialist to see if there were anything
that she could do to increase her chance of getting pregnant from someone
with a low count.  They did some tests on her as well, to see if she were
contributing to 'the problem' at all.  What they determined from those
tests was that although all outward indications of normality had
continued, the mumps that she had contracted as a young teenager had
rendered her sterile, and there was no way that she could get pregnant
from Nick or anyone else.

        Natalie had been devastated.  At first she had wanted to go to
Nick and tell him, saying ~See Nick - a family isn't an option for me
anyway, so it isn't something that *you* are taking away from me.  It just
isn't an option.~  But then she had remembered having read somewhere that
in the middle ages, if a wife couldn't produce heirs for her husband, it
was assumed to be the woman's fault whether it truly was or not, and that
if the husband so chose, he was within his rights to abandon her, beat her
to death, or sell her into servitude or prostitution.  Natalie started
turning that thought over in her head...  She knew Nick would not beat her
or sell her or anything like that, and it had nothing to do with the
changed laws since those dark days.  She still decided, however, to *not*
tell Nick, since she was afraid that if she did, while it would not matter
to him while he was a vampire, that once they had found a way to regain
his mortality, he'd suddenly want to throw her over for someone who could
give him children.

        Knowing that she and Nick could know each other's secrets when
they were intimate, Natalie decided she would have to try and block her
knowledge of her own infertility from Nick, taking as much pleasure from
their physical intimacy as she could for as long as it lasted.  She knew
that sooner or later Nick would take too much, and she would either die,
or he'd bring her across.  She didn't want to die, but couldn't help but
think if it had to be, then what better way to go than in the arms of the
man she loved so deeply.  If he brought her across, there would at least
be the chance that when she found a cure for Nick, it would work for her
too...  And maybe with any luck the vampire would have repaired the damage
caused her by her bout with the mumps.  If it didn't, well at least she
could enjoy whatever time she had with him in the meantime.

        Nick had perceived the change in her at that point as that she had
become addicted to being bitten by him.  Some of the community actually
sought out such mortals, calling them 'Blood Dolls'.

        Eventually, from seducing Nick to bite her so frequently without
allowing herself time to recuperate in between, it slowly added up to
'too much', and she would have died.  Perhaps she had, as Nick chose to
believe.  In any case, he offered her his own blood, and she chose to
return as 'one of the damned', although she never viewed it that way.

        This gave them the advantage of being able to be together
whenever they wanted.  It also meant Natalie had to control her thoughts
every time she and Nick were intimate and shared blood; necessary to
distance herself enough to keep Nick from discovering that by the
standards he'd once known, she could never be a proper wife.

        The drawback to this was that their intimacy lost a lot of it
spontaneity.  Nick perceived this as Natalie being unable to forgive him
for 'forcing her into the darkness with him', and so he too began to
distance himself from her.  At the first they had talked of getting
married now that they were both vampire, but with their more frequent
arguments and growing distance between them emotionally, that line of
discussion had long since been left behind.

---<---<---<@

        Natalie heard a knock on the bathroom door which brought her out
of her reverie, <not that *THAT* should be called reverie> she had thought
more than once.

        She heard Nick knock again and then his voice.  "Nat... We've
been through this before.  Once we start arguing we can't seem to stop,
because neither one of us can accept the other point of view then.  So I'm
going out for a while  That'll give us both time to cool down.  If you
need me, I'll be at the Raven."

        "Yeah - sure.  Go on."

        "Nat?"

        "What, Nick?"

        "I... I dunno.  I think anything else I want to say would just
make you cry more."

        "I'm *not* crying, Nick."  Natalie silently dabbed at her eyes.
She knew that because of the bond they shared with Nick being her sire, he
knew damn well she was.  That didn't mean she'd ever admit it, however.

        Nick sighed.  "I'm going now."

        "Bye."

----

        Nick sat in the Raven sipping his glass and watching the community
mingling with each other and the humans who should be, and in some cases
were, their prey.  He sighed.  ~When Natalie first moved in,~ he thought,
~she told me how much she loved me.  She said it didn't matter if what
happened did or not, so long as we were together and had each other.  I
guess she just couldn't handle the reality of it, though.~

        LaCroix looked out over his club and the patrons therein, and
noticed his son sitting at what had become his usual spot.  ~I must
remember to thank the good Dr. Lambert.  Nicholas may refuse to tell me a
thing beyond 'things are fine' at home, but whatever else she may have
done, she has at least caused Nick to choose to spend at least a little of
his time with his own kind, usually an hour or two, a couple of nights a
week.  It might not be much, but it certainly is more than what he was
spending with the community for quite some time.~

        LaCroix could sense both remorse and anger, as well as frustration,
and indeed love, from his son.  From this he had guessed that perhaps the
good doctor had given up the search for a cure and was enjoying her
immortality, which was affecting his son's view of his 'light'.  But
Nicholas would not say, and when he had last tried to ask her about such
things, Natalie had called him a 'meddling, manipulative, schweinehund of
a bastard who was sticking his nose into places it should not be'.  This
had managed to at least confirm that *something* was indeed happening
between she and Nicholas, so although he had played it tough and angry at
the insults she had thrown him, he had in truth been rather amused.  He
knew that the Irish-Ukrainian doctor had mispronounced the german insult,
and although he had no way of confirming it, he guessed correctly when he
speculated that she must have a german co-worker whom she had picked it up
from.  LaCroix sighed as he watched Nicholas finish the last of his drink
and head out of the club.  ~No doubt going down to the docks to brood,~
LaCroix had thought.  He had discovered that when his son came to the
club, he still usually had some heavy thinking to do when he left, and
that was his latest place to go off alone to brood on whatever was
troubling him.

----

        Nick returned home to find that Natalie had also gone out.  That
was their usual pattern they had established now - after an argument each
would leave until they felt thay could face the other without blowing up
again.  While he usually went to the Raven then down to watch the ships in
the docks, Natalie would usually go out.  She had recently taken to going
out with Myra Stuarte, Schanke's recently remarried widow, and Grace after
Tracy had told her she felt caught in the middle since she was friends
with both.

        Nick didn't know why things had gotten to be the way they were
between himself and Nat, but he did know that in spite of everything, he
still loved her more than anything else.  So he'd bought her a dozen roses
which he put in the vase on their table where she would see it as soon as
she came in.  Nick found it easier to apologize with flowers than to
actually say "I'm sorry."  Of course he also knew by now which varieties
of roses were Natalie's favorites.  As Nick placed them into the vase on
the table, he wondered absently if things would ever get better between
them again or if he should consider investing in a florist shop...

----

        Natalie was at work, and since it was a slow night, she was
managing to work on her own project.  She had just examined a small tissue
sample she had taken from Tracy's baby.  Once she was certain of the
results, she sighed and picked up the telephone and dialed.  She got the
answering machine.

        "Now, Trace? / Yes, it's already going! / Oh. I'm not doing it
over... Umm, Hi.  You've reached the Tracy and Javier Vachon residence...
Umm, if you want us to call you back then tell us who and where at the..
uh, tone?  uh.. Later."

        Natalie smiled as she listened to the series of beeps indicating
that her message wasn't the first one left.  Finally the right tone
indicated she could leave hers.  "Hey guys!  Love the message.  At least
it's a lot better than the other one that Screed had done up when you
first got that thing!  By the way, if you hadn't guessed, it's Nat.  I've
finished the tests.  Gimme a yell.  Bye!"  Natalie shook her head
recalling the earlier message that had stayed on the machine for the first
few days that Tracy and Vachon had this newest machine.  Screed's unique
style had explained that he'd bought it for "them" as a gift to replace
"'er" other one that he'd busted when he borrowed it to try and catch rats
with, so he'd replaced it with this nice fancy one.  Then he had added
that "they" would call back after the beep.  So not only was the message
confused and more than a little wierd, but it had never once said who
"they" were.  Natalie grinned.  Vachon's nervous message was definitely an
improvement.

----

        Tracy and Vachon were sitting in the living room of their
apartment.  It had been a night off for Nat as well as her and Nick, so
they had all been out celebrating Tracy's pregnancy.  But things had not
seemed right to either Tracy or Vachon.

        As Vachon put his arm over his wife's shoulder and pulled her
close, he asked "Did that seem a little weird to you tonight, Trace?"

        "I really don't know, Vachon.  I think they were both happy for
us, but I got the impression that they were both... upset too."  She
picked up the remote control and turned on the television to one of the
news and info channels, which was what they usually put on quietly in the
background when just talking.  The elevator music that came over it might
not be the most exciting, but it wasn't bad, and it never distracted you
like some of the music videos sometimes could.

        "Both of them?"

        "Yeah...  I think that's what seemed so wierd."  Tracy absently
rubbed her stomach, and wondered aloud "I wonder when I'll start feeling
our baby kick and stuff."

        "Maybe that's it..."

        "What?"

        "The baby.  You said before that Natalie had said she wanted a
baby and had hoped your first pregnancy would make Nick want to try for a
kid too...  Maybe that's the problem.  Now that she's a..." he opened his
mouth, miming biting.  For some odd reason they still tried never to say
the word 'vampire'.  "Maybe their feelings are a little mixed up.  They
could be happy for us, but there could also be some jealousy or
resentment even.  Probably some good old 'what if' going on.  I'd bet
that's why they seemed a little weird tonight..."  Vachon put his other
hand around Tracy and pulled her into a tight hug.

        "Hey, I'll bet you're right.  Natalie looked annoyed, but I know
sometimes she looks that way when she is depressed about something...   Or
not even exactly depressed, but if she is feeling down about something.  I
know she wanted to have a kid before.  And Nick, he looked..." Tracy
leaned forward, picked up the big fluffy cat, and settled the now
purring monster onto her lap.  "He looked almost wistful.  Bet that is
what was going on.  That would explain their behaviour tonight."

        Tracy looked at her watch, and Vachon sighed and picked up the
cat and transferred him onto his own lap.  "You had probably better go get
ready for bed, if you're still going to go meet your dad for lunch."

        "I know."  Tracy sighed and wandered into the bathroom where she
started the bathwater running, before wandering back out to talk with her
husband some more as the water slowly filled the tub.

        Vachon had let the cat off of his lap and had wandered into the
bedroom.  Tracy smiled admiring his well shaped and nicely muscled
backside as he pulled off the pants he had worn out that evening.  He
pulled on his well-worn jeans that he found so comfortable and removed
all other clothing.  As he stood back up, Tracy came up behind him, and
sliding two fingers through one of the many small holes in the back of the
jeans, gently rubbed his butt.  "You really should get another pair of
jeans...  There isn't much left of those ones."

        Vachon grinned as he turned in her arm to face her.  "What?  I
thought you liked them on me."

        "I do.  It's just... embarrassing when you go answer the door in
them or wear them when we've got visitors."

        "So next time I go answer the door you want me to step out of them
first?"

        "Vachon!  You know what I mean!"  Tracy had turned a lovely shade
of red that he found very appealing.

        "I know..." He pulled her close and carressed her as she allowed
her hands to roam over him.  He could feel himself pressed against her in
spite of the denim, when they began to hear a splashing sound coming from
the bathroom.  He quickly stepped back and began to escort her towards
the bathroom.

        As they entered, they saw the big fluffy cat sitting on the edge
of the tub, reaching into the water repeatedly, splashing little drops of
water around and onto the floor outside the tub.  "You are one weird
little kitty, you know that?"  Tracy petted the cat, then shut off her
water.

        "I thought that was the reason you named him Splash."

        "That doesn't mean it isn't weird!  Cat's are *not* supposed to
like water."

        "He doesn't."  Vachon spoke as he watched Tracy climb into the
bath and tried to envision her how she'd look in another 7 or 8 months
with her belly swollen with their child.  Vachon stroked Tracy's hair,
then added "He just likes playing with the water.  He hates being in it."

        "Well, it's still weird..."

        "I'll take him out of here and we'll let you finish your bath and
get some sleep.  You still want to go see him alone for lunch tomorrow?
If you go a little later I can come too."

        "I appreciate the thought, love, but I think this will be better
if I go alone...  Expect me to need to wake you though to talk when I get
back..."

        "Ok."  Vachon leaned down and kissed the top of Tracy's hair,
inhaling the sweet sent left by her shampoo.  "Good Night... mom."  Vachon
pulled the door closed quickly just in time to hear the splork sound made
by the soggy bath sponge hitting the closing door, and he grinned.  He
waited a moment, expectantly, until he heard his wife call him.  Then he
opened the door again and stuck his head in.

        "Will you please pass me the sponge, hon?"

        "If you aren't going to try and bean me with it this time."
Vachon picked it up but waited for an answer before moving further.

        "Okay."  He handed it back to Tracy.

        "Trace, about Nick and Natalie...  You really think that's
probably what it is?  It was just an idea."

        "Yeah, I do.  And you know what...  I bet it would probably help
them if we ask them to be our baby's godparents..."

        Vachon grinned.  "You think?"

        He watched as Tracy nodded.  "Yes."

        "Okay then...  But I'm going to let you do the talking to them.
You know that Urs will be disappointed?"

        "I know.  But she can be the god-mom to the next one we have, and
I think she'll enjoy being 'auntie' just as much with this one."

        "Next one?  Planning on that already are you?"  Vachon grinned as
Tracy threw the sponge at him again, hitting him square in the chest.
"Okay, I had that coming..."  He tossed the sponge back once more but
closed the door quickly before she could try a third time...  He was
shocked to admit it even to himself, but he did like the sound of it...
'Next one'...  "I guess that means I've been domesticated too," he said
to their fluffy cat.  "And I don't think you're weird."  He scritched the
cat's ears, then set him down and walked back to the livingroom to see
what he could find on TV.

----

        Tracy walked into the restaurant at 12:45.  Her dad had said to
meet him there at 1:00, and she hoped to be there ahead of him.  Instead,
as she took a cursory look around 'just to be sure', she saw him stand and
beckon slightly.  Tracy sighed as she walked over and sat down at her
father's table.

        Her father had already ordered for them both, veal cordon blue,
which thankfully Tracy liked.  Of course, it wasn't what she was
craving...  She loved the Chicken Parmesan they had at this place and
always looked forward to it here.  But she asked herself if it was really
worth arguing over and decided it wasn't.  She'd come back another time
with her husband and enjoy an order of it in the preferable company of
Vachon.

        "Hi Dad."

        Her father reached across the table and squeezed his daughter's
hand.  "I still find it hard to believe my little girl is married.  What
is it now - 2 years?"

        "It's 3."  Tracy picked up her wineglass and sniffed the
contents. Tracy smiled as she put the glass down.  That was a bonus and a
good way to tell him he was going to be a grandfather.  As the waitress
came past, she requested a large milk.

        "Now this is unusual Tracy.  It has been a long time since I've
seen you ask for something other than coffee.  You started drinking coffee
when you were what? 10 or so?"

        "Something like that."  Tracy was waiting for the inevitable
question - why, but it didn't come. Instead her father picked up her wine
glass and sniffed it.

        "Not to your taste?  Well, it is supposed to be a good year, but I
don't find it very exciting myself.  Tell me what you'd like, Tracy, and
I'll order another bottle."  Richard Vetter began cocking his head in an
attempt to signal their waitress.

        "Actually, Dad, I won't be drinking.  If you like it, have it, if
not, order whatever you want.  But you might as well decide."

        "Well, you're certainly full of surprises today, dear."

        Tracy shuddered.  She *hated* it when he called her dear in *that*
tone of voice.  It meant that either he'd had another fight with Tracy's
mom and wanted to draw his daughter into it on his side of things, or that
he had yet another promotion that he wanted her to take and that she would
have to fight with him over.  She loved what she was doing right now,
thank-you very much!

        Thinking she shivered, he asked "Are you cold, Tracy?  We can move
to a table that isn't so close to a vent if you like."

        Tracy hated when he got like this.  That was definitely a fight
between her parents.  That also meant that the first time she said or did
anything that annoyed him, he'd automatically assume she had taken sides
with her mom and that was the reason she wasn't agreeing with him or was
upsetting him....  "No, Dad, I'm fine.  Besides, if I get cold I can always
put my sweater on."  Tracy stared at her unused coffee mug absently as she
thought, ~I hope he's just excited about being a grandpa...~

        "Your mother called last night.  She said that..."

        "I don't want to hear about whatever squabble or arguement you
have with my mom.  I'm not taking sides, Dad, and that is THE final word.
If mom has anything she wants to say to me, she'll say it to me.  If she
wants to talk to you, she'll talk to you.  I am not going to be a go
between, nor am I going to be forced into taking sides.  Just drop it,
Dad."

        Tracy spoke firmly with enough of an edge to her voice that she
stunned her father.  He had never heard his daughter talk back like that.
She had weasled out of a couple of career moves that he'd arranged, and
there had been that argument over *him*, but even then it was nothing like
this.  He just looked at her, startled.

        "In case you forgot, I was the one who told you *I* wanted to talk
to you today, Dad.  I let you set the time and the place, but this was at
*my* request."

        Tracy paused as the waitress brought out their orders and
generally ensured they had whatever they needed for a little while before
moving off to serve another table.  She pushed the carrots in her side
salad to the edge of her plate and watched as her father looked totally
puzzled.

        "Don't you normally like carrots, Tracy?"

        "Yes, but right now the thought of them...isn't agreeable." Tracy
began to eat from the other items on her plate.

        "Are you alright, Tracy?  You aren't sick or anything?"

        "I'm fine, Dad."  Tracy sighed, realizing her father was being
clueless today.  Might as well just tell him and get it overwith.  "Dad,
I'm drinking milk instead of wine or coffee, and I'm disliking food I
normally like...  There's a reason for it."  She deliberatly put her glass
down in the hopes her father would do the same.  She leaned forward across
the the table and whispered quietly.  "It's called pregnancy..."

        "YOU'RE WHAT!!!"  Richard Vetter practically screamed...  Several
patrons at nearby tables glared over at him.  "Your husband is a useless,
jobless leech who's content to live off you, and you're going to have a
baby with that slob!"  Richard Vetter slammed his hand down on the table
hard enough to almost topple his wine glass.  Tracy almost wished he had.

        "Dad, be quiet.  It's my business, not the others around us, nor
really even your's.  I'm telling you out of courtesy, and because I know
you'll find out eventually.  I might as well get this overwith now."  She
wasn't used to standing her ground against her dad this fimly, but she
knew she had to do so now, or her dad would be trying to control how she
raised her family, once he got past the fact that she was having one.
Tracy sipped her milk.  "Now, whether you like him or not, Javier *is* my
husband.  It isn't you who's married to him, so it doesn't *matter* if you
like him or not.  I love him, he loves me, and we chose to have a family.
You know how much I love my work Dad, and before you ask, I've already
written a letter requesting less dangerous duties and stating why.  When
I get to be far enough along that it's inconvenient, *then* I will take my
maternity leave.  And as far as Javier not working, why not be glad that
he isn't?  He is looking forward to parenthood as much as I am, and he
plans on being a full-time parent to our baby.  That means that he or she
will not have to go into daycare!  Besides, with working on the graveyeard
shift, which I *enjoy*, Dad, it would be pretty hard to find a sitter for
the baby...  We would probably have to hire a live-in Nanny.  So I think
this is much preferable."

        Tracy looked around and saw a young couple toying with the young
lady's engagement ring looking at her and her dad.  The couple smiled, and
and both of them gave Tracy a thumb's up sign.

        Richard looked at his daughter warily.  He was sure there must be
something that she had overlooked.  "Have you been to your doctor yet?
Does he think it's safe for you to continue working as a police officer
while you are pregnant?  And does he have any idea at all of what's
involved with your work?"

        Tracy smiled.  "Yes, my doctor knows I'm pregnant.  The home test
I used was what *she* recommended, and then when I talked to her, she did
a test to confirm as well.  And as long as I remember I'm pregnant and
don't put myself into dangerous situations, which is why I've already
written a letter to my captain,  she sees no reason for me not to continue
working as long as I am still physically capable of it.  And yes, she most
definitely knows what kinds of things are involved with my work."

        "Who's your doctor, Tracy?  And has she referred you to a good
specialist?  I know the doctor who delivered you is still practicing.  If
she hasn't referred you yet, I can get you his name and number.  He's a
friend of mine from highschool."

        "Thanks, Dad, but no.  I don't want to deal with anyone other than
my own doctor."

        "You still haven't told me who your doctor is.  And why on earth
won't you have a specialist?  You really should you know.  If you want I
can..."

        "Dad, no.  I haven't told you who, because I know you'll flip.  My
doctor doesn't work out of a clinic or anything.  She has a very small
private practice in addition to her job.  And as far as a specialist goes,
I don't want one.  My doctor is more than capable.  And I do not want to
have my baby in the hospital.  That isn't a natural environment.  I am
going to have my baby at home, and I certainly think that having a doctor
do a home delivery will be at least as safe as having a midwife deliver my
child.  Just because Ob/Gyn isn't her specialty, doesn't mean she isn't
more than qualified to deliver a baby."

        "Tracy...  you don't mean Natalie, do you?  Your comments: I'll
flip... no clinic... in addition to her *job*...  Please tell me you don't
mean that Natalie is your doctor?"

        "She is.  And in spite of..."

        "Tracy, she is a Coroner, for heaven sake!  If she is going along
with this daft idea, there is definitely something NOT right!"

        "She is a friend, Dad, who also happens to be one of the brightest
medical minds in the province.  So Ob/Gyn isn't her specialty.  She
probably still knows more about it than most of them do.  And she's had a
lot more training than most midwifes have.  Besides, she's been my doctor
for a long time.  She knows what went wrong when I miscarried before, and
so she knows what sorts of potential trouble to watch for that anyone else
wouldn't."

        "It just isn't right, though.  How will it look when the birth
records show the attending physician as a coroner!  It just isn't right,
Tracy."  Tracy noticed an older woman at another table nodding in
agreement with her father on that, until he went off in an attack of
Natalie.  "Besides, there is something very wrong with a woman who is that
intelligent devoting her entire life to working with the dead.  I know she
is the best coroner in the city, and quite possibly the province, but
there is just something wrong with her.  It isn't natural.  She should be
working in a clinic somewhere, with a family of her own.  That is what is
normal, what she should be doing.  There has to be something very wrong
with someone who *likes* to work with the dead.  The only thing I know
going in her favour is that she seems to be attached to that partner of
yours, and he is a very good fellow."

        Tracy cringed and felt like hiding under the table as she saw the
older woman who had previously been nodding in agreement with her father
now walking towards them.  She patted Tracy on the shoulder.  "I hadn't
realized, dear, what a sexist pig your father is."  The woman leaned in
and whispered to Tracy, "I think you are doing very well to stand up to
him.  It must be so difficult.  You do what *you* think is best dear.
Good luck."

        Tracy had no idea who the older woman was, or why it was any of
the womans business or interest, but she did appreciate the support.
"Look Dad, I'm not asking.  I'm telling.  This is the way it is.  If you
don't like it, that's fine.  You don't have to live with it, do you." She
patted her napkin to her face and then added, "I think I'm going to go
now.  When you can accept what I've told you, call me.  But don't bother
until then because we'll just end up fighting again, and I'm not changing
my mind.  Good day, Dad."  Tracy stood up and left, pulling her purse over
her shoulder as she walked.  When she sat down in her car, she remembered
back to another situation...

@>--->--->---

        Tracy was lying back in bed, reading a book.  Vachon had been in
the bathroom having a shower, but the water had just been turned off.
Tracy had heard one of the floorboards in the livingroom creak, but she
really didn't pay much attention because that was something it did on it's
own whims amyway, and she was enjoying her book too much to care.  The
bathroom doom opened, and then she heard Vachon's voice.

        "Hey Trace?  Ya know where I left my towel?  It isn't in..."

        Tracy smiled, figuring Vachon had stopped mid sentence because
he'd found the towel, when she heard a muffled voice.  Tracy frowned but
before she could get her robe pulled on, Vachon's voice called out again.

        "Hey, Trace?"  There was a significant pause, long enough that she
was sure he must have been startled. "I think your dad is here."

        Tracy let out a strangled 'Achk' sound and dropped her book to
the bedside table without worrying about the bookmark.  She was just about
to race to close the bedroom door when Vachon wandered in, still dripping,
and still without his towel.  Vachon closed the door behind himself.

        "What happened?" Tracy asked Vachon, as she pulled on a pair of
flannel pajamas and pulled her housecoat from the closet.

        "I walked out of the bathroom.  He was in the apartment.  He saw
me like this and gasped, then asked me who the hell I am.  I'm pretty sure
that makes him your dad.  Don't see anyone else acting that way."  Vachon
reached out and took the small towel that Tracy handed him, which she had
previously had around her hair.  "Thanks, Trace."  He pulled a pair of
sweatpants up over his hips but didn't bother to tie the drawstring.  He
grasped Tracy's hand and brought it up gently to his mouth to kiss her
fingers.  "Are you ready?"

        Tracy shook her head.  "No.  But that doesn't mean we can avoid
this."  She reached out and opened the bedroom door, then grasped Vachon's
hand quickly before he could change his mind.  Together they walked out of
the bedroom hand in hand, dressed in sleepwear, to go face Tracy's father.

        Tracy and Vachon sat down on the sofa beside each other, staring
across the coffee table at Tracy's dad who had taken up a position in the
armchair opposite.

        Richard Vetter turned on his daughter.  "This is outragous, Tracy!
You ought to be ashamed of yourself!  What in the name of Sam-Hell is
going on here, anyway!"  He picked up a glass of water that he'd obviously
run in the kitchen while they were dressing.  "I raised you better than
that!  You're acting like a cheap whore!  Honestly!"

        Tracy didn't know whether she wanted to go and beat the crap out
of him for the way he was acting or just go crawl in a hole somewhere and
cry.  Vachon squeezed her hand.  Later he told her he was ready to jump
in and defend her from him, but if she seemed able to handle it, he
thought he'd be best to let her do so.  But Tracy hadn't known this at the
time.  She took a deep breath and steeled herself for the confrontation
that could not be avoided.

        "I agree.  This *is* outragous!  I'm an adult, Dad, and I live my
own life.  This is *my* apartment, not yours, and yet you still believe
that you are welcome to wander in anytime you so choose!  I've asked you
before not to use the key except for emergencies or if I ask for it like
when I locked myself out that one time.  YOU refuse to accept that I'm an
adult, and in that case, you are going to find out the hard way that there
are things about my life that you may not like.  If you treat me with the
respect that you would treat any other adult, by which I mean things like
*NOT* coming in unanounced and uninvited, then you wouldn't walk in on
situations you would rather not know about!"

        "What!  Tracy, I'm your father!  I have a right to protect you!"

        "Excuse me, Dad, but you are *also* a cop, just like me.  You know
full bloody well that whether you like it or not, by *law*, if I were to
charge you right now with trespass or unlawful entry, I could.  And it
would stick.  I'm not going to do that, Dad.  But you have no right to
wander in to my apartment unannounced and uninvited.  He was invited."
Tracy gestured towards Vachon beside her.  "You were not.  I'm an *adult*,
Dad.  For God's sake treat me like it!"

        "But Tracy, he was naked."

        "And?  Like I said, Dad, I *am* an adult.  You have to learn that
means I'm not your little girl any more.  I haven't played with dolls
since I was 11 or so."

        "And you're dressed for Bed?  With him here?"

        Tracy was getting very tired of this.  She knew her Dad didn't
want to think about the fact that since she had grown up, that meant that
along with not being a little girl any more, she was also sexually active.
Then again, what parent does?  But she doubted most were as dense about it
as what he was being.  "No, Dad, I *am* dressed for bed now that you are
here.  I *wasn't* before I found out you were here.  You might not like
seeing my male company wandering about naked, but I'm sure it would have
been a lot harder to take if I had been too.  And I'm *not* changing my
lifestyle to suit you.  I'm an adult.  This is my home.  If you insist on
using the key other than the way I asked, you are bound to run into things
here that you don't want to think about."

        Tracy excused herself to go get a drink of water.  While she was
running the water, she heard her father say something.  As she came back
and sat beside Vachon, she saw him blink, twice.  Then he spoke.

        "Well...  I used to be her snitch?"  He said it as a question
rather than a statement.

        "WHAT!!!!"  Richard Vetter lookad at him the same way he had
looked at the flea infested stray dog Tracy had brought home as a 10 year
old asking 'Can I keep him, Dad?'...  Tracy stiffled a giggle, partly
because of her father's expression, partly a reaction to the stress
because she knew this was going to get really ugly really quickly.  She
also knew that was what they had discussed telling anyone who asked, but
they hadn't discussed family.

        Richard then turned on his daughter.  "He used to be your
SNITCH?...  My God, Tracy, do you know how unprofessional that is?  I
certainly hope you do not take every man who gives you info into your bed!
God, that practically does make you a whore!  At least -they- do it for
money.  It may not be the best of reasons, but at least it's a reason!"
My God!"  Richard Vetter took a large gulp of his water, most likely
wishing it were Brandy.  "I can't believe this Tracy.  You should know
better."

        "Dad, I.."

        "I don't want excuses, Tracy!  This is the most unprofessional
thing I have -ever- heard of you pulling!  I can't believe this!  What
does your partner have to say about this, or does he even know?"  Tracy's
dad was clenching and unclenching his fist.  He looked like he wanted to
put his fist through something.

        "Actually, Dad, I asked Vachon to tell anyone who asked that he
used to be my snitch, because while it isn't exactly proper, it is also
something that sometimes happens, and while not liked, is accepted...  I
wasn't certain if we told the truth, that it wouldn't affect my being
partnered with Nick..."

        She had finally said something to capture her father's interest,
at least enough to get him to listen instead of yell...  Now she had to
come up with something good, and fast.  She thought about the fact the
vampires seemed to all consider themselves family and smiled. "Actually,
he is a distant cousin of Nick's.  I know some captains are tolerant of
partners ending up as family to each other by marriage or by living with
someone from their parner's family, and some won't accept it.  I didn't
know how Reese was on that, so I figured the other was a safer, if less
professional explanation.  I knew that wouldn't affect me being partnered
with Nick, while telling the truth *might*."

        Her father looked stunned.  He turned to Vachon.  "You are related
to Detective Knight?  How?"

        Tracy thought her father meant more like 'how can -you- be related
to -him-', since she knew her father would never like anyone whom she
chose to take into her bed, and how wonderful her father thought Nick was.
Vachon, however, interpreted his question as 'how are you related to
Nick', and decided to follow Tracy's lead and piece something together
for her father.  "Well, I'm not exactly sure.  I just know that my... ah..
mother was some type of distant relation to Nick's father.  But you have
to go quite a long way back before you find any common blood between us."
He gave Tracy a significant look, and she rolled her eyes slightly.

        At least her father wasn't yelling now.  Tracy watched as her dad
sat back in the chair and seemed to study the two of them briefly.  Then
he asked, "So are you going to introduce us, Tracy?"

        Tracy rolled her eyes.  "Dad, this is Javier Vachon.  Vachon, this
is my dad, Richard Vetter."  ~When is he going to give up and finally
leave?~ Tracy wondered idly.  Tracy watched as Vachon held out his hand to
shake the elder Vetter's hand but was met with an icy stare.

        Instead, her father returned with his own question.  "So how long
have you known my daughter, Javier?"

        "Since the first night she was working with Nick, actually."

        "And what do you do for a living, Javier?"

        Tracy had gone to refill her water glass, and as she was walking
back in to the room, Vachon seemed to be blanking as he watched her and
ignored her father's question.

        "Well, what do you do?"

        Tracy realized he was stumped as to what to say.  He was still
looking at her, and Tracy was out of sight of her dad.  She smiled and
mimed playing the guitar.  "I'm a musician." Tracy held up one of the
Raven's matchbook's.  "I sometimes play at a club called the Raven."
Vachon seemed inspired now and added  "Sometimes I work as a bouncer
there."

        Richard sighed and looked at his daughter.  "I suppose you're
serious about him?  It'd be too much to ask for you to fall in love with a
doctor or lawyer?"  He took a drink from his glass of water and added, "A
part time musician or bouncer... that's a waste. They're always broke,
Tracy."

        Tracy shrugged.  "Was there something you wanted, Dad, or are you
leaving now?"

        "I'm really tired, Tracy.  I was going to sleep on your sofa
rather than drive all the way home.  Your apartment is so much closer."

        "Sorry Dad.  You can leave your car here if you like and take a
cab.  But I already have company."

        Richard Vetter sighed.  He pulled out his key ring and removed one
from it, which he handed to Tracy.  "Well, why don't you just give this to
him then, since he's obviously more welcome here than I am."

        Tracy sighed.  If her dad was in that mood, she couldn't do
anything right anyway, so why not.  He didn't need to know Vachon already
had a key.  "Thanks, Dad. I will!" She got up to walk her dad to the door.

---<---<---<@

        Tracy sighed, and started her car.  Actually, she was quite
pleased.  Things had gone much better today with her father than she had
feared.

----

        It was now about 2 weeks before Tracy's baby was due, and Tracy
and Vachon had settled nicely over the last month into their new house.
With a family now, a one bedroom apartment wouldn't be sufficient any
more, so when one of Tracy's cousins had offered to sell his home to
them for just the amount that he had actually paid into it, they had
jumped at the opportunity.  They now had a 3 bedroom home with a den and
an unfinished basement that could be finished according to their needs,
which they got for just slightly over $100,000 - a definite steal!  Tracy
never asked Vachon where he came up with the portion of the money he did,
with which he augmented Tracy's meagre savings sufficiently for them to
pay Tracy's cousin in full.  She had learned a lot more about him since
they had married, but she still suspected there was far more he hadn't
told her about himself, and she figured his money might have something to
do with that.  She didn't want to know.

        Their first night of the '2 night move' had only vampires helping.
Screed had wandered off for a while, to Las Vegas they thought.  But Urs,
Nick, Natalie, and an old friend of Vachon's from about 75 years ago who
happened to be in town were over, helping get the house completely
vampire safe.  The second night,  Natalie and Tracy were overseeing the
placement of boxes and furniture into the appropriate rooms in the new
house, while Vachon and Nick were making sure that everything got sent to
the house without breaking.  Most of the others who were helping with the
move were other officers.  Captain Reese's wife, Denise, was so excited
about Tracy's condition, that she had come out to ensure that Tracy didn't
push herself too hard and had generally doted on Trace.  Natalie
whispered to Reese at one point when they saw him that evening with a
truckload, that she was acting more like the excited grandma than the wife
of the boss.  Reese had laughed, explaining that was just Denise's
nature, and that she made that kind of fuss over anyone she even
remotely knew who was pregnant.

        The move had gone far more smoothly than most moves go, except for
a conversation with Denise which had confused Tracy.  Denise was insistent
that Tracy was carrying twins, 'two auras' she said, and Tracy was just as
insistent that she wasn't.  Tracy never told Vachon or anyone, however,
because she herself thought it was just too weird and something best
forgotten.

        Natalie had just arrived, however, to check up on both Tracy and
the baby, something she had been doing throughout the pregnancy on a 2
week basis earlier on and weekly for the last several.

        Natalie was feeling Tracy's abdomen, when she suddenly looked
slightly puzzled, pulled out the stethescope, and began moving the
cold piece of metal around on Tracy's stomach.

        "Something wrong, Natalie?"  Tracy asked once the stethescope was
out of the doctor's ears.

        "Wrong?  Oh... No."  Natalie still looked puzzled, however, and
asked, "Is Vachon around?"

        "Yeah.  He's out in the garage installing a baby seat in the car.
Why?"

        Natalie shook her head and smiled.  "Oh, I was just wondering if
he'd like to listen to the baby...  If you don't mind, that is."

        "I think he'd like to.  Want me to get him?"

        "No, Trace, you just relax and lie here.  I'll go get him, and
we'll be right back."  She tucked the stethescope into a pocket and left
the room.

        When she opened the garage door, she looked back to ensure Tracy
had not followed her before speaking.

        "Vachon?"  She watched him back out of the car where he'd been
installing the baby seat.

        "Hi, Doc.  Trace ok?"

        "Oh yeah, she's fine.  But I'd like you to come and listen to the
baby for a minute."

        Vachon smiled.  "Sure."  He went to the sink and washed off his
hands after putting his tools back in the box.

        Natalie put her hand on his arm.  "I need a second opinion on
something.  You're handy."

        Now Vachon looked worried.  "What?"

        "Don't worry.  It's just that throughout the pregnancy, even when
we sent Tracy for ultrasound, it looked like she was just carrying one
baby.  I'm not too adept with my enhanced senses, but I thought tonight I
heard a fainter second heartbeat when I used this."  She pulled out the
stethscope.  "And the way the baby is moving down, it's either really
stretching in there, or there really are two.  I'd like to show you what
to feel for, let you listen too, and see if you think the same thing as
me.  You probably are more used to using your senses than I am."

        "Twins?  Is that what you think?"

        "Possibly.  I haven't said anything to Tracy yet, though.  I want
confirmation of my suspicions first."

        "Well, let's go then."  Vachon opened the door and led them back
to their bedroom beside the room they had fixed up to be a nursery.

        Once they returned, Natalie listened once more to find the right
spots, and then handed the earpiece end to Vachon.  After Vachon grinned
at Natalie and nodded, she guided his hand to feel a place higher on
Tracy's swollen belly.  "That's a back.  You can feel it pushing out
against Tracy."  Then she guided his hand again to feel another place on
Tracy's abdomen, but much lower.  "And here, well, this is where we would
expect to find..."

        She didn't get a chance to finish because Vachon exclaimed,
grinning from ear to ear "...something besides another spine!  Tracy, I
can distinctly feel two different babies!  You're right, Doc!  And I could
hear it too.  It wasn't your imagination!  I used my senses to pick up the
other one.  It's actually two!"  He leaned up to hug a baffled looking
Tracy very tightly.  "We're going to have twins, Tracy!"

        Tracy suddenly shivered as she recalled her discussion with Denise
Reese only about a month before.  That was just far too eerie for her
liking.

----

        It was only 3 days later while Natalie was at work that she got a
phone call from Vachon, telling her that Tracy had gone into labour.  A
couple of times during the remainder of her shift, Natalie slipped outside
and flew quickly over to check on Tracy before heading back to work.
About an hour and a half before her shift was over, however, Natalie got
another call from Vachon that Tracy's contractions were now happening with
a noticeable increase in frequency, and that he was really worried.

        Natalie called the doctor who was coming in for the next shift
following her and told him Tracy was in labour, and she needed to leave as
soon as she could.  Everyone that knew both of them knew that Natalie was
Tracy's doctor, and that they were doing a home delivery, anyways. Ted
yawned sleepily and said he'd be there as soon as he could so she could
leave early.

        Natalie got to Tracy & Vachon's house about half an hour later,
and Natalie stayed until the babies had been born.  She phoned Nick to let
him know that she wouldn't be home today.

        It was late afternoon when Tracy gave birth to the first child.
Natalie got a loud healthy cry instantaneously.  She looked at the time
and spoke into her recorder that she normally used to record all sorts of
info on her patients, usually beginning with the estimated time of death.
This time it was recording the moment of a new patient's birth.  Then,
since there seemed to be a bit of a respite between the first and second,
she took the time to clean and examine the first tiny bundle before
wrapping the baby in a towel and handing her to Vachon, since Tracy was
now having contractions on the second baby.

        Vachon looked at the little bundle in his arms, his own eyes wide
with wonder.  She was beautiful, with long thick dark hair, big doe eyes,
and although it was too soon to tell for sure, she looked like she would
probably have darker toned, close to olive toned maybe, skin.  She was 8
pounds and 2 ounces and seemed to be very healthy.  She had a wonderful
shade to her eyes.  They were not quite a true blue but seemed to have an
almost crystal clarity to them, with a hint of green in the colour.  "I
was a teen when my youngest sister was born.  But she looks almost
exactly like my sister did.  It's so... "

        Suddenly, Vachon realized that Tracy was crying out, and he turned
his attention to his wife while holding his daughter.

        It was just as the sun went down when Tracy delivered the second
one.  He was much smaller than his sister, only 5 pounds 15 ounces, and
he appeared the absolute opposite of her.  Besides being tiny, he was also
extremely pale, what little hair he had was very thin and fine.  He was
also blonde, so blonde in fact that his hair looked almost white.  He was
so thin and frail.  He looked sickly.  Natalie wondered until he opened
his eyes if he might not be albino, but his eyes were bright.  They were
an uncommon light icy blue, coloured much like a wolf's eyes.

        Natalie cleaned up the little boy, and noted all the details for
both babies into the recorder.  Then she went to see how Tracy was doing.

        It wasn't long after when Natalie took blood samples from both
babies and took off to go check them out, leaving the 400 some-odd year
old new dad to look after his wife and babies for a little while.

        After an hour or so, Vachon woke up Tracy.  "I want to let you
rest, Trace, but Natalie said it was important to get the babies nursing."
Vachon handed his little girl to her mother, while he held his son and
watched on as Tracy figured out how best to hold her so she could feed
her.  The little girl seemed to latch onto her Tracy's breast easily,
and she had no trouble sucking.  If anything, Tracy had a little
difficulty getting her daughter to stop.

        "Have you thought about any names, yet, Vachon?"

        "Me?  You want me to help name her?"  Vachon was surprised.  And
honestly, he was quite honoured too.  In the home he had grown up in,
naming the children was something that was done by the mother.  It had
never occured to him that this might not be universal or could be
outdated.

        "Of course you.  You're their dad."

        "She looks so like my little sister.  I keep finding myself
wanting to call her by her name."

        "Which was?"

        "Bonita Maria de los Delores.  I always called her Bonita Mari.
She was only 3 when I left for the the new world."

        "I have no idea what it means, but I think it's pretty.  If you
want to name her for your sister, I don't mind."

        Vachon laughed.  "That's really funny, Trace."

        "What?  You don't want to name her after your sister?  I think
Bonita Marie is a very pretty name.  I like it."

        "Not that, Trace.  Your comment about not knowing what it mueans
but thinking it's pretty.  That's what's funny.  Bonita means pretty."

        Tracy blushed.  "Oh.  I still like it though."

        Vachon smiled and bent in to kiss his wife.  "Bonita Mari it
shall be then.  Thank you, Tracy."  He took his daughter from Tracy and
handed her their son.

        Tracy tried to put her son on her other breast, but no matter
what, he seemed to have difficulty.  He didn't seem inclinded to latch on
to her no matter what she tried.  Vachon watched worriedly as Tracy even
attempted to get him to latch on to the breast that his sister had,
thinking maybe there was something to do with her, some irregularity in
herself that made one side unappetizing to the infant.  After repeated
attempts, she asked, "Vachon?  Hand Bonita to me?  I want to see if she
has difficulty on the other side or if it's just him."  She looked like
she was ready to cry, and Vachon didn't know how much was from worry and
how much was from sheer exhaustion.

        Vachon sat beside her, took their son, and handed their pretty
girl back to her.  He watched as Bonita had no trouble whatsoever with her
mother's other side.  She began to cry when Tracy removed her, however.

        Vachon had begun pacing with his daughter, rocking her gently, and
making a whole assortment of odd little cooing noises at her, when Splash
pushed open the bedroom door enough to come in and bounded up onto the
bed, where he began to sniff interestedly at the boy's head.

        Tracy reached out to push him away from the baby, and because of
how close he was to the edge of the bed, he and the bedding beneath him
began to slide off.  Vachon watched, dumbfounded, as the cat tried to dig
it's claws into the nearest item to control the fall and got a deep
scratch into Tracy's thumb as a result.  Vachon then shoed the cat out of
the room and closed the door.  He walked over to Tracy, and kissed her,
lying the girl down on the bed beside her as well.

        "Will you be ok, Tracy, if I go out for a few minutes to tell Urs?
I did promise her that much."

        Tracy nodded, absently licking her injured thumb.  "Go ahead.  But
hurry back, ok?  I'm really tired."

        After she watched Vachon leave, Tracy licked her thumb of the
welling blood in the scratch before trying once more to feed her son.  As
she tried to get him to take her nipple, however, he squirmed slightly
until he found her nearby thumb and latched firmly onto it, sucking
intently.  Tracy's heart fell, because she knew, somehow, what that had to
mean.  She didn't yet understand how, but she definitely understood why.
As she caressed her tiny son's head with her other hand, she began to
cry.

        Tracy looked up when someone touched her forehead.  She had been
sobbing so hard that she hadn't heard Natalie's return.  Who knew, perhaps
she had cried herself to sleep even.  She wasn't sure.

        Natalie looked down at the little boy, who now looked slightly
less pale.  "Were you able to get him to feed at all, Tracy?"  Natalie sat
down beside her and reached out to comfort the mortal woman as she began
to sob.

        Tracy held her thumb up.  "Yeah...  but it wasn't milk I got him
to drink."  She looked over at Natalie.  "Bonita?  She's ok, isn't she?"

        "She's fine, Trace."

        "What's the weather like outside?"  Before Natalie could answer
her, Tracy went on.  "I wonder if I phoned the Raven if Vachon would pick
up a couple of newspapers on his way back.  He went to go and tell Urs.
He's so excited.  Our girl looks just like his youngest sister, you know.
I know she meant a lot to him.  She was only 3 when he left.  He never saw
her after that.  But she looked just like her, so we named her for his
sister.  We're calling her Bonita Marie.  Do you know any Spanish,
Natalie?  His sister had a much longer name, and I'm curious what it
means.  But Bonita Marie was what he always called his little sister, so
that's what we are calling our baby girl.  You know, when I was born, my
mom sent my dad out for a newspaper.  Apparently my dad teased her some.
Things were good between them I guess back then.  But he teased her about
me being a baby not a puppy and a newspaper wasn't much use.  At least
that's what mom's told me.  But later on, when I was about 16 or so and
was interested in what sorts of things were going on in the world, Mom dug
out the newspaper from the day I was born and gave it to me.  I know it
sounds silly, but I really liked that.  It's a neat tie into history for
my birthday.  I hope Vachon can go get a newspaper for each of them."

        Natalie listened to Tracy babbling on, about everything but her
son, knowing that inside her mind was working overtime.  She listened
patiently as Tracy discussed everything she could possibly think of to
discuss, including how the Blue Jays were doing in the standings.

        Finally, Tracy began to cry again.  "I don't know what to do,
Natalie.  I knew once you told me a few weeks ago that I was having twins.
I knew that there was a possibility of something like this maybe.  But I
don't know what to do.  He doesn't have any teeth yet, but once he does,
how do I know he won't decide he's hungry and being so young and not
knowing any better, that he won't turn his sister into a snack?  I'm not
equipped to deal with one that's like his dad, and one that's like me.  I
don't think it's safe to have them together...  But I don't know what else
we can do.  How can he be like that?  Last time, when I..."  Tracy began
sobbing against Natalie's shoulder.  "What am I going to do, Natalie?  If
both of them were human, or both of them were like him...  As long as both
were the same, I think I could handle it.  But I don't know how I can with
one of each."  Tears streamed down Tracy's cheeks.  "A baby doesn't
understand about wrong and right... all they know is instinct. If it feels
good then do it.  He'll end up biting her at least, and probably sometime
at night or something and end up draining her, and then she'll be dead...."

        Natalie caressed Tracy's cheek, as she wiped away her tears.
"We'll find a way, Tracy.  It'll be ok."

        "Natalie?  Would you take the boy?  You could adopt him from us.
It would be better for him to be raised by two parents that are the same
as him.  You and Nick...  You'd be able to be parents to him, and you'd be
far more equipped to feed him what he needs than I am.  Please Natalie?"

        "I'll talk it over with Nick.  If we do this, it should be his
decision too, just like it should be both you and Vachon's."

        "Don't discuss it.  Just tell him.  If you discuss it he'll just
find one excuse or another to make you not want to.  He's far to mixed up
to know what he wants.  You make the decision.  Please, Nat?  This is the
perfect way for you to be able to have a family in spite of being a... "
Tracy lowered her voice to a whisper.  "A vampire.  I know you guys will
not have kids otherwise.  And I know you want a family.  It's the perfect
solution.  They'd still get to spend a lot of time together and stuff but
with much less danger.  It really would work out.  You'll see."

        It was only a short time later that Vachon returned, and once made
privy to what Natalie and Tracy had each discovered separately, agreed
with his wife.

        Tracy and Vachon both cried, although agreeing it was probably the
best way to handle the situation, as they watched Natalie bundle up their
tiny boy, just a few hours old, and take off with him into the night sky.

----

        As Natalie entered the loft, Nick was sitting back listening to
music, his eyes closed.  "How's Tracy doing?"

        As Natalie opened her mouth to speak, the well bundled tiny infant
in her arms began to cry.  Nick sat bolt upright...

        "Nick, the twins... the girl is human... but the boy, I don't
exactly know what to say about him.  He was affected by the dead virus,
and it didn't have the effect I anticipated.  He needs blood, not milk.
Tracy asked us to take him because she was afraid that since such a little
child has no concept of right and wrong, he might make a snack of his
sister at some point.  I agreed.  They want us to adopt him."  Natalie
walked over to where Nick was sitting and began to unbundle the tiny pale
child.

        Nick watched her, angrily.  "Natalie, that child is an
abomination!  A monster!  If he's *born* a vampire, then he needs to be
destroyed!"

        "Nick, how can you say that!  He's an infant. A tiny helpless
infant.  Even though he needs blood, he doesn't even have any teeth!  For
God's sake, Nick, he's just a baby!"  Their arguing seemed to be making
the boy cry harder.  Natalie pulled him closer against herself and began
cuddling and rocking the child in an attempt to comfort him.  "Shhh, Nick,
your scaring him..."

        "If he can't even feed, then he was never meant to live in the
first place.  He needs to be destroyed, before anyone gets any more
attached to him.  Including us."  That was the only indication Natalie
would have that Nick was not really as hard-hearted on this as he was
sounding.  Of course, with their arguing, she didn't notice it.

        "Nick!  Normal human babies can't feed themselves for a long time
after they are born.  If you have that attitude, then you must think that
ALL humans should be killed at birth and let our race die out because
we're too immature as infants to feed ourselves..."  Natalie knew this
wasn't true but wanted to parallel it in the hopes that Nick might
realize what he was saying.

        "That's not the same thing, Nat.  I'm going out!"  Natalie
watched, tears on her face, as Nick pulled on his coat and took off,
slamming the lift door hard enough that it vibrated along the floor.

        Natalie wiped her tears away, and began speaking to her little
bundle.  "He'll come around.  You'll see.  I know it won't come down to
that, but if he insists, we'll go somewhere ourselves.  It won't though.
He'll come to love you, just as I already have."  Natalie sighed and
kissed the wee babe in her arms.  He was beginning to settle, now that he
wasn't being frightened.  "Are you hungry?  We'll see about that..."  She
never kept her nails too long or too sharp, because with her line of work,
it was dangerous to humans to have the latex gloves break.  Of course,
this wouldn't affect her, but she couldn't let anyone know that, so she
had to keep up the pretense.  She sat about looking for a small knife,

----

        LaCroix sat at the Raven, watching the crowd gyrating to the
music.  As he watched the mortals and vampires mingling, he suddenly heard
behind him the door to his office push open and felt his son's presence.

        "To what do I owe this privilege, Nicholas?"  He turned his
chair to face his son.  "Or are you here on business?"

        "I need to talk to you...  Tracy had her babies, you know."

        LaCroix grimaced.  This wasn't a topic that he particularly wanted
to discuss.  He still figured that Tracy had gotten pregnant from some
mortal, but most of the younger vampires were chosing to believe her.
"And what of it, Nicholas?  When women are pregnant, they give birth.
That's the natural order of things.  Why be excited, or upset as you seem
to be?"

        "She had twins.  One's normal.  The other...  The other is like
us, somehow.  He can't suckle, he needs blood!  And Natalie agreed to
adopt him!"  LaCroix knew that much of Nick's apparent anger came from his
fear and his not knowing what to make of the situation.  And of course the
legends of Damphirs...

        LaCroix had heard that while the Damphir had once existed, it
hadn't occurred naturally, and the magics that had allowed it's creation
were no longer known.  But that didn't mean he wasn't worried.  What
magics had enhanced nature to once create, he was afraid that nature might
just be able to create on her own.  "The child must not live, Nicholas.
He is a danger to us all."

        LaCroix's emotionless tone hit a chord in Nick, making him listen
to the elder vampire.  "Natalie says he's just a helpless baby."

        "And what does she know?  Her belief in science..."  Nick's master
spoke as if someone were holding something under his nose that smelled
very bad.  "That child is a monster, Nicholas.  It was never meant to be.
That thing should be destroyed before it grows into something far more
dangerous.  It's a horror that is neither human nor vampire...  It could
potentially destroy us all...  It has to be killed."  LaCroix sat looking
at his son.

        Nick suddenly started, realizing that with what he had said to
Natalie earlier, he sounded just like his father...  ~There is definitely
something wrong with me when I'm not only thinking of LaCroix as my
father, but am agreeing with him and disagreeing with Nat.~

        "You know of course *why* your beloved Natalie is so attached to
this little abomination?"  When Nick looked at him puzzled, he continued,
"I picked out this little thread from her via my connection with you,
Nicholas.  In spite of her attempts to keep it from you, surely you must
have discovered it..."  LaCroix reveled in being able to do things beyond
Nick's capabilities, keeping the balance of power in his favour.  "You're
her sire, Nicholas...  How can you not know she was sterile before she
joined us...  Even if you do find your blessed mortality together, she'll
never be able to give you any children..."

        LaCroix smiled, certain that Nick would revile a woman who had no
prospect of family of her own.  That was just the way things were in
Nicholas' time.  He knew that Nick had changed with the times, but he
didn't think it possible for a 13th century male to change that much.
He was sure Nick would no longer be interested in Natalie, knowing she'd
never be able to provide him with heirs.

        Nick looked pale, even for one of the denizens of the night.
"Natalie..."  It was all clicking into place now...  her coldness had
nothing to do with not forgiving him!

        Without further word, Nick turned and exited LaCroix's office to
return home...

         ~I know what you were trying to do by telling me, LaCroix.  You
expected me to have the same reaction as Natalie must have feared I would.
It won't work, LaCroix...  I'm not still living in the 13th century...
It's a disappointment, yes, but I won't leave her.  I love her too much to
do that to her...  I just need to make sure -she- knows that now.~  Nick
pulled the caddy into the garage and went upstairs.

        Nick had stopped at a florist shop and picked up a dozen roses,
which he figured he'd put in the vase on the table for her where she'd
find them when she returned.  Instead, the sight which greeted him was of
Natalie sitting quietly on the sofa, singing softly to the child, whom she
seemed to have on her breast.

        Nick stopped in his tracks and stood smiling, mesmerized by the
sight.  ~They look just like 'Madonna and child'~ Nick thought.  Then in
rapid succession a number of warring thoughts flashed through his mind,
and his smile faded to a frown as he sorted through them. things like
~Don't be daft, Nicholas, they're vampires~, which he heard in LaCroix's
voice; and in his own, ~How can a vampire look like a religions painting?
It's sacrelige to even think something like that!~

        Natalie turned, saw Nick with a variety of expressions playing on
his face, and thought he was still angry.  She got the hard edge to her
voice that she got when she was near to crying.  "Look, Nick, I know you
don't believe me on this, but it's the right thing to do.  I can't do
anything else.  And I definitely can't let you go and kill this baby.  If
you can't handle that, then we'll have to say..."

        Nick didn't give her a chance to finish.   "Natalie, Don't go...
I'm so sorry."  ~It wasn't as hard to say as I thought~, he mused.  "You
were right.  I knew when LaCroix was saying to me exactly what I had said,
that something was wrong.  When have I ever agreed with him against you?
You should have told me though, about your problem...  I wouldn't leave...
I know how much a family had meant to you... I'd not abandon you for
someone who could have children...  I want you to know that."  Nick sat
down and kissed  Natalie.  "Besides, I just realized something, just
now...  You haven't changed from who you are being a vampire, Nat.  The
person hasn't changed, just what you are has.  Now I understand what you
meant about accepting myself before a cure could work.  It didn't make
sense to me before...  But it does now.  The mortal I knew and fell in
love with would have done exactly the same thing, if presented with a
vampire child...  making sure the child was looked after and loved," Nick
paused significantly, "And fed.  What you're doing now as a vampire is
exactly what you would have done as a mortal.  You are still my Natalie..."
He wrapped his arms around both her and the baby, hugging them both..  He
inhaled deeply.  "I love you Natalie. I never stopped, you know.  And I
always will love you."  ~That wasn't as hard to say as I anticipated,
either.  She needed to hear me say it for a long time, and I finally did.~
He reached down and put his hand on the tiny child's head.  "Both of you."

        Natalie looked at Nick, stunned.  This was more than she had hoped
for.  She had hoped he'd understand...  But she had expected he wouldn't.
She had really been ready to leave over the child.  This was the Nick she
had fallen in love with so many years ago, the Nick who accepted her
unequivocably, affectionately...  Only then it had been the limited
affection that he had thought was all they could ever have, the unrequited
love.  He was being his old self that she had not seen since shortly before
he had brought her across.

        Natalie laid the child on the sofa, carefully, then pulled Nick
into a tight embrace.  After a few minutes of just holding each other,
Natalie released Nick.  We'll have to arrange for a diaper service, Nick.
But in the meantime, since we're adopting him, how would you like to go
out and get ...'our son'," Natalie paused and smiled mischievously,
something she hadn't done in a long time either,  at the expression that
crossed Nick's face, "some disposable diapers.  Make sure you get the size
for newborns."

        Nick looked Nat.  "What's his name?"  It was the first that Nick
had realized that he hadn't heard one.

        "Well, I was thinking Richard, for my brother, although Tracy
could probably let her dad think it's also for him and she had a hand in
the naming...  I was also thinking of your nephew, Andre.  I like the
sound of that: Richard Andre Knight...  Do you like that ok?"

        "You'd name him for my nephew?  Do you know what that would mean
to me, Natalie?"  He pulled her close and softly kissed her head as he
pressed his face against the soft fullness of her hair.  "I'd love it...
Thank you, Natalie."

        Natalie returned the hug then lightly cuffed him, "Go, he needs
diapers!"

----

        Richard Vetter sat in his daughter's house, an invited guest.  He
had wanted to see how his 2 week old grandchildren were doing.  In order
to accommodate this, Natalie and Nick were enroute there with Richie as
soon as the sun had fully set.

        "I just don't understand though, why you'd keep one of the twins
and give up the other one."  Tracy's father was obviously upset but was
doing a good job of controlling his anger, and was actually for the first
time that Tracy could remember, treating her like an adult.

        "It wasn't easy dad.  It isn't like we won't have access to him or
anything.  Don't forget, Nick is Javier's cousin, and he and I are still
partners.  Besides, he was born with the same condition that Nick has.
With Natalie being a doctor, she's much more equipped to be able to deal
with a child that has medical problems."

        The doorbell rang, and Vachon went to go and answer it.  Soon he
returned with Nick, Natalie and Richie.  Vachon was holding the baby, and
they were all chatting amicably.

        After a little while, Vachon disappeared fo find his camera.
He took a photo of the elder Vetter holding both babies, one in each arm.
Then he sat the camera on it's timer, and against Tracy's better
judgement, displayed to him by her rolling her eyes at him when he
suggested it, they took another with Nick and Natalie standing beside
Richard to the side he held Richie in that arm, and Tracy and Vachon
standing on his other side next to their daughter.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
end of FAMILY 2: Uncertain Beginnings.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this.